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<div style="display: block;" id="reader-header" class="header"> <b><small><small><small><a
href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/nato-summit-protester-prison-term-extended-jared-chase?CMP=edit_2221"
id="reader-domain" class="domain"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/nato-summit-protester-prison-term-extended-jared-chase?CMP=edit_2221">http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/nato-summit-protester-prison-term-extended-jared-chase?CMP=edit_2221</a></a></small></small></small></b>
<h1 id="reader-title">Nato protester's prison term extended for
throwing human waste at guard</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">Renée Feltz - April 12,
2016<br>
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<p>A 30-year-old Illinois prisoner diagnosed with a
degenerative disease that destroys higher brain
functioning will spend at least two more years behind
bars for conduct experts say deserves treatment instead
of disciplinary action. </p>
<p>Jared Chase was sentenced on Monday to an additional
year in prison for squirting a shampoo bottle of his
human waste at a correctional officer. At the time of
the assault in 2013, he was in jail facing state
terrorism charges related to protests against the 2012
Nato summit in <a class="u-underline"
data-component="auto-linked-tag"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/chicago">Chicago</a>.</p>
<p>In a high-profile trial in 2014 prosecutors argued that
Chase and two friends planned to attack police stations,
the mayor’s house, and Barack Obama’s campaign
headquarters. Defense attorneys countered that the men
were entrapped by two first-time undercover police
officers who plied them with alcohol. Recorded audio of
their drunken bravado was used in court. The terrorism
charges failed to stick, and the three were instead
convicted of felony possession of an incendiary device –
four molotov cocktails made from beer bottles – and
misdemeanor mob action. </p>
<p>Prosecutors sought a maximum punishment of 14 years,
but judge Thaddeus Wilson sentenced the three to between
five, six and eight years. Chase got the longest
sentence after a correctional officer testified during
the punishment phase of the trial that he had attacked
him in jail – the same incident for which Chase was
sentenced on Monday. The other men served half their
time. Chase is the only one still in prison. </p>
<p>Dr Kathleen Shannon, an associate professor of
neurology at Rush Medical College, testified during the
2014 trail that Chase had physical and cognitive signs
of Huntington’s disease, and that a genetic test had
confirmed the diagnosis. The disease is hereditary and
marked early on by personality changes, irritability,
impulsiveness and impaired judgment. Physical symptoms
appear later, such as slurred speech, and involuntary,
jerky movements known as “chorea” .</p>
<p>Shannon met with Chase twice, and testified he had a
life expectancy of about 15 years, or a maximum age of
about 39. Chase’s father died of the disease while his
son was awaiting trial.</p>
<p>When Chase appeared in court on Monday he was dressed
in a brown jumpsuit worn by inmates in solitary
confinement at Pontiac correctional center, a segregated
unit packed with inmates who have mental illness. He was
thin and struggled to speak. At a court hearing in
December he was heavily bruised and explained he had
struggled with guards. </p>
<p>Court records show that while in prison, Chase stored
his human waste in cartons he hoarded in his cell, and
would throw them out into common areas. Chase said in a
letter that he acted out when he did not receive the
special diet or vitamins prescribed for his disease. </p>
<p>In 2013, Dr Shannon testified that throwing feces and
urine at people was “very common” for people with
Huntington’s disease, and compared the outbursts to a
toddler’s temper tantrum. Those who suffer from the
disease often struggle to learn from their mistakes and
may be compelled to repeatedly engage in behavior that
is not in their best interest. <strong tabindex="-1">.
</strong></p>
<p>A 2015 study by an international team of experts found
that neurodegenerative diseases can “cause dysfunction
of neural structures involved in judgment, executive
function, emotional processing” and “lead to antisocial
and criminal behavior”. It noted that while “they are
able to understand their actions and sometimes even to
verbalize that they were wrong” the patients they
observed “lack the inhibitory circuitry in the
orbitofrontal, anterior insular, and anterior cingulate
cortex to prevent inappropriate behavior”.</p>
<p>It concluded that this made them “particularly
vulnerable to legal systems” and that “these individuals
should be treated differently by the law.”</p>
<p>Last year Anne Leserman, a social worker and assistant
director of community services at Huntington’s Disease
Society of America, wrote a letter to prison officials
urging better treatment for Chase. She noted that, “in a
stressful situation, like one that would be experience
in a prison environment, these set of symptoms might be
enhanced”.</p>
<p>But instead of prompting his release or additional
treatment, Chase’s continued outbursts and resulting
stints in solitary confinement have resulted in a loss
of one year of “good behavior” time, which means he will
serve at least one more year than the usual half-time of
his eight-year sentence. His new one-year sentence for
assault must be served consecutively.</p>
<p>For Brent Betterly, who traveled with Chase as an
activist in the Occupy Wall Street movement and was a
co-defendant in the Nato case who has since been
released, Monday’s court hearing was “like watching my
friend die before my eyes.” he said.</p>
<p>Betterly said Chase appeared to have lost more weight,
and twitched repeatedly as he struggled to speak in
court. </p>
<p>“Every year they add on is another nail in the coffin,
so to speak,” he said. “At this point it is just
vindictive what they are doing to Jay.” </p>
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